NEW signing Gary Browne has told York City fans they are yet to see the best of him after his Football League debut against Doncaster on Saturday.

Browne, 20, was handed his chance to impress by player-boss Chris Brass in the 1-0 Division Three victory after signing a one-month contract at Bootham Crescent.

Both Brass and Browne were satisfied with the former Manchester City reserve's performance but the eager striker believes there is still room for improvement.

He said: "I think I played well against Doncaster. My work-rate pleased me and I battled very hard up front but I know there's a lot more to come from me whenever I get another chance.

"I could have held the ball up better and maybe got a few more shots in, which are just the things I know I can do when given the opportunity."

Browne figured regularly for Manchester City's youth and reserve teams before being released by manager Kevin Keegan this summer without making a first team appearance.

Saturday's match was therefore a major landmark in his career.

"The manager called me during the week to tell me I would be starting so I knew before the match and had time to prepare myself," Browne said.

"I had a few butterflies before the game but once I got settled down I was fine. I thought the fans were brilliant.

"Because it was a derby match everybody was up for it and I really enjoyed it. I was pleased with the result.

"It was a tough game to come into for me because it was so frantic and the tackles were flying in but we battled really well and it was important that we won. I think it was about as hard as I expected because they were pretty solid and had had a good run of wins but we put an end to that."

The Northern Ireland Under-21 international is now hoping that he can impress Brass sufficiently to persuade the City boss to extend his Bootham Crescent stay beyond next month.

He said: "I have got a month and hopefully, if I keep playing well during that time, I can earn myself a contract at the end of it. I was originally on trial for a month and was working hard in training. The manager has just told me to keep doing that and we will see what happens at the end of the month."

First and foremost, Browne needs to convince Brass he has done enough to retain his starting shirt for the trip to Leyton Orient on Saturday with on-loan signing Jon Shaw, Liam George and Aron Wilford all waiting in the wings.

Jon Parkin will also come into contention for the December 6 trip to Darlington after serving his four-match ban but Browne feels such tough competition for places provides a healthy situation at the club.

He said: "It can only benefit me really because you can become complacent within the team and think your place is guaranteed but there's a battle to keep your first-team place here."

Browne also believes his brief spell at non-league Whitby Town helped prepare him for Saturday's debut, saying: "It was a good experience because I was playing regular football and the lads were brilliant.

"I think playing in the FA Cup at Hartlepool also stood me in good stead even though we lost 4-0 because it meant that, come Saturday, I had already played in front of a big crowd."

Updated: 11:17 Wednesday, November 19, 2003